DataTables vs GraphQL Zeus: What are the differences?

## Introduction

When comparing DataTables and GraphQL Zeus, there are some key differences that set these tools apart in terms of functionality and usage in web development.

1. **Data Handling:** DataTables is a jQuery plugin that primarily focuses on presenting tabular data in an interactive way by providing sorting, filtering, and pagination features. On the other hand, GraphQL Zeus is a code generation tool that helps developers to generate TypeScript types and client-side code for consuming GraphQL APIs efficiently.
   
2. **Technology Stack:** DataTables relies on jQuery for DOM manipulation and AJAX requests to fetch data for display. In contrast, GraphQL Zeus is specifically designed for working with GraphQL APIs and is typically used in conjunction with technologies like Apollo Client for managing GraphQL data.

3. **Data Fetching:** With DataTables, data fetching and manipulation are handled on the client-side, which means the entire dataset needs to be loaded upfront. GraphQL Zeus, being tailored for GraphQL APIs, leverages GraphQL query language to fetch only the required data from the server, allowing for more efficient data fetching and reduced over-fetching.

4. **Type Safety:** While DataTables primarily deals with displaying tabular data without enforcing strict typing of data, GraphQL Zeus focuses on generating strongly-typed TypeScript definitions based on the GraphQL schema. This ensures type safety throughout the application, preventing common errors related to data types.

5. **API Integration:** DataTables can work with various backend APIs and data sources beyond just GraphQL. In comparison, GraphQL Zeus specifically targets GraphQL APIs, providing a more tailored and optimized solution for interacting with such APIs, including features like caching and query optimization.

6. **Real-time Data:** DataTables does not inherently support real-time data updates or subscriptions out of the box, while GraphQL Zeus can leverage GraphQL subscriptions to enable real-time data updates by establishing persistent connections between the client and server for receiving data changes.

In Summary, DataTables focuses on enhancing the presentation of tabular data with client-side manipulation, while GraphQL Zeus streamlines the development process by generating TypeScript types and client-side code for efficient consumption of GraphQL APIs.